“The Beat” is an occasional series about what life is really like for a newspaper beat writer covering a hockey team in 2013.

I still remember everything about my first road trip as an Avalanche beat writer, way back in 1995. First memory: being dropped off by my ex-wife at the Loews Hotel on Colorado Boulevard, where I was to meet the newly-named Avalanche for a bus ride to DIA, the AMR Combs private charter area, for a preseason game swing that would take us all to Cornwall, Ontario, nearby Hamilton Ontario, then on to Toronto and then to Harford Connecticut for a game against the – gasp, I’m getting old – Whalers.

Doug Friedman – a prospect with the Avs who went to Boston University – was seated next to me on the team’s charter airplane. We probably didn’t speak more than 20 words to each other on the whole ride, but it’s probably because we were both nervous rookies in our professions.
The first hotel on the trip was considered a true dump by the team, and I would say that now too. It was a Holiday Inn in Cornwall, for the first preseason game against the Canadiens. It was the best hotel available in this truly small town in Ontario. All I really remember, though, was thinking “WOW, THIS IS AWESOME” when walking into my room. Your own private room, your own TV, your own bathroom; really, this was the first time in my life I could say I had all that at my disposal.

Eighteen years later, I still get just a little thrill walking into a hotel room for the first time. There’s just something about doing that – on company business, on the company dime, in a place away from home – that makes you feel good. Then, you get to walk around in a brand new city, seeing all there is to see. And, technically, you’re getting paid for doing it. There’s a reason why I wanted to be a sports writer for a big-city newspaper.
My first road trip of the 2013-14 season started Monday in Toronto, and of course I got that same thrill again walking into my room at the Westin Harbour Castle, a day before the Avs were to face the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

This was the start of a three-game road trip, through Toronto, Boston and Washington. I’ll try to paint a picture here of what happened on the trip, and what it’s like for the traveling newspaper beat writer of a team in 2013, and maybe contrast it a little bit from what it was like in 1995. Maybe it’ll give some of you out there, who want to do the same thing some day, some encouragement. Maybe it will disabuse the notion for others of you who were thinking about trying it.

OCT. 7-9, TORONTO
The alarm was supposed to go off at 5:35 a.m.. Except I set it for 5:35 p.m. on my iPhone. The rust from not traveling in a while was already apparent.
The flight to Toronto was at 8 a.m. I live about a 35-minute drive to DIA under no-traffic conditions. So when I woke up, with the totally knowing feeling that something was wrong, it was totally confirmed when the clock showed 5:52. Read more…

Avalanche rookie coach Patrick Roy had much to say in his 35-minute season-opening press conference Wednesday at the Pepsi Center. Among them was moving natural center Ryan O’Reilly to Matt Duchene’s line, playing left wing opposite P.A. Parenteau.

“I think it’s an easy adjustment for him. I think Ryan is very solid in his own zone (and) Dutchy and P.A. Parenteau are maybe not as solid as defensively as Ryan is,” Roy said. “I think it will make a very good line. And I think it’ going to take pressure off of Nathan (MacKinnon).”

Avalanche center Matt Duchene said he slept with his head against the headboard Tuesday and Wednesday nights and to help the swelling to his chin dramatically decrease, and he won’t use a chin-guard or anything else to protect the wound that required 11 stitches Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The Avs complete their two-game homestand tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Duchene took a puck off the chin from a strange Drew Doughty shot in the third period. Dutch only missed a shift or two, after going through medical evaluation and getting the wound taped together in the locker room, before returning and eventually leading all Avs forwards in ice time. Here’s video of Duchene after this morning’s skate at the Pepsi Center:

And here’s second-year pro Brad Malone, who was called up to take Steve Downie’s spot on the 23-man roster. Malone won’t play tonight, and his time with the big club will probably depend on if/when the Avs sign restricted free agent Ryan O’Reilly.

Your new Avalanche captain will be at Edge Ice Arena on Tuesday, helping to promote an app called Flow — “a personal trainer in your pocket.” Gabriel Landeskog is a partner with the app’s marketing arm, Ultimate Performance, a company he owns along with fellow NHLers from Sweden Victor Hedman (Lightning), Jhonas Enroth (Sabres), Patrik Berglund (Blues) and Jacob Josefsen (Devils).

Not going to advertise here, but the app is available on iTunes and coming soon for Android devices. Tuesday’s specifics (open to the public): 5:30-6:30 p.m., Edge Ice Arena, 6623 S. Ward Street, Littleton

Every once in a while I need a little feedback. You can definitely get in a little bit of a bubble sometimes as a reporter, more ensconced in the “official newspaper guy/disseminate to the masses from on high/it isn’t news ’til we say it is” mindset, and it’s never good. It really is about the fans. I still miss our old Denver Post slogan of “The Official Newspaper of the Fan” in the 1990s. That was in response to another Denver paper’s former slogan of the “Official Newspaper” of at least one of the major teams in town, and I always liked ours better. I might have been biased though.

One of the things I’ve been asking myself lately is this: do you guys care all that much about off-season contract negotiation stories? I need to know.
Here’s the deal: As a reporter, I want to bring every last up-to-the-minute thing to everyone that I can. And yet, over the years, I’ve come to regard contract negotiation stories, and the pursuit of them, as a Faustian Bargain, where I’m “darned” if I do and “darned” if I don’t. Sometimes I think part of the problem with sports reporting today is that there’s too much focus on the off-the-field/rink stuff. Just too much stuff to fill up space.

I don’t know if this is me sounding jaded (it probably is), but as a reporter the last 15 years in the NHL I’ve come to regard off-season contract stories as a bit of a fool’s errand. Case in point: Chris Stewart and Peter Mueller remain unsigned right now with the Avalanche. They are two important players and I want to get the latest on what’s going on. As far as I can tell, what’s going on is this: both sides are still apart on the numbers, and there’s a bit of a game of chicken going on. A lot of NHL teams are trying to be conservative, I believe, because they’re not quite sure what the landscape of the league is going to look like in a couple years, when the collective bargaining agreement between owners and players is set to expire. God forbid it, but there’s always the chance of another lockout. Teams have to be careful in case they are over-leveraged and the cap number goes down (case in point, the 2005-06 Avalanche). I don’t think there will be another lockout, but with Donald Fehr set to probably take over the NHLPA soon, all bets are off. This is the same guy who was partly responsible for there being no World Series one year.

Thing is, it’s really early still in the negotiations dance. It’s only July 14. If both guys are still unsigned in September, rest assured I’d be on the story like a cheap suit, but to me everything is just a big tease right now. The agents won’t say anything and the Avs won’t say anything. They’re just apart for now, that’s all. A lot of times, experience has taught me, is: if you read anything about a contract negotiation in the paper before it has been signed, chances are some of it was just posturing. A ploy by one side against the other. That’s why I’m a little torn on the issue. But if it gets close to the games starting to count and they still aren’t on the team, then it’s a big story no matter what.

A lot of people ask me what’s going on with Mueller and Stewart, and yet a lot of people tell me they don’t care and won’t care for a few more months at least.

Where am I going with this blog? I don’t know. I just want to know what the level of interest really is for these kinds of stories on hockey in July. The Avs have to spend about $7 million more just to reach the cap floor for this coming season, which is why my bottom line remains: these guys are going to be signed. The only question is, for how many years?

I guess part of the reason for the blog is to let you know I’m hearing you on the questions on Stewie and Mules. And, just to take it easy if you’re worried about it — and maybe hear from those who knew that already.

Been another quiet day around Avalanche headquarters so far. I know a lot of you are wondering what’s going on with the talks between Chris Stewart, Peter Mueller and Brandon Yip, and may be concerned no deals have been struck yet. But quit worrying. Those deals will get done.

Keep in mind, the Avs must spend another $7-8 million more just to reach the cap floor of $43.4 million this year. You never know, there could be some horrific snag in the talks for any one of the three and become irreconcilable. In that case, the Avs would need to trade them or just let them sit. But they still would need to spend money on some players to get to that floor.

I believe all three will sign with Colorado and will be on the ice for opening night.

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Yes, this is a hockey blog, but I wanted to write somewhere about some of the stuff I couldn’t fit in my print story in today’s Post about free agency in sports, its past and present.
It was fun talking with Jon Koncak for it. NBA junkies of the 1980s like me well remember Koncak’s “scandalous” six-year, $13.1 million deal with Atlanta, and how that made him better paid than Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson at the time.

I always get a little thrill talking with players I watched as a kid, so it was great to talk with Koncak, who was gracious and seemed like a very nice guy.
He told some funny stories that couldn’t get in the paper, including:
– How, as part of the deal with Atlanta, he got three checks within a couple months’ time, all for $900,000 each. (His signing bonus, I believe). He said he went to his local suburban Atlanta bank to deposit one of them, into his checking account and how “They didn’t believe it was real. They kept staring at it and kind of were amazed by the amount. They just didn’t think it was real and I had to do some explaining about what it is I did for a living.”
– How, far from being jealous of his deal, nearly every NBA player at the time loved Koncak’s deal. They knew that if a backup center averaging four points a game could get a deal like that, there would be a lot more money for them down the road. “I’ve been thanked by an awful lot of players over the years. Even the young kids now know who I am, because my deal still comes up a lot with agents and players.”
– How he got a helicopter tour of the city of Detroit when the Pistons were wooing him to sign with them, before Atlanta upped the ante to keep him. The Pistons thought he would be the ideal replacement for Rick Mahorn, who was lost to the expansion draft to Minnesota (and subsequently traded to Philadelphia).
– How he said he can see how players of his era (such as Mahorn recently did) can go bankrupt. But how there’s no way a guy making $20-30 million a year will be able to in in the future. “You just can’t spend all of that.”
– Koncak’s two big recommendations to players getting big money, and how to hang on to most of it:
1. Get a good financial planner.
2. Don’t get divorced.
Koncak did get divorced and lost a good chunk of his contract money in the proceedings. He’s still doing fine financially and has some investments that may pay off big, including a heavy involvement with a medical device company – Colomarker - that hopes to market a breakthrough test/treatment in the fight against colon cancer.

OK, a couple observations first: GPS is the greatest device ever. I’m convinced that GPS has lowered the divorce rate in the world, and blood pressure of millions of people. I’m dead serious. Couples don’t have wicked fights anymore in the car over directions – the kind my folks had all the time growing up. And I can vouch for the fact I don’t stress anymore about getting lost while on the road, like I ALWAYS did back in the day.
Tonight, I ended up in some old, abandoned industrial area around the Philly airport, trying to find my way to a hotel from downtown at 2:30 in the morning. The GPS was temporarily confused by some road closures and detours, but no problem, it just recalculated and I was taken a new way.

And here I am writing, at about 3:30 or so. In the old days, trying to find my way in the car, by some dimly lit map – I’m driving around ’til about 5 or 6, absolutely guaranteed. I would have cursed, shouted, stomped around and quite possibly had a motor vehicle accident from the distraction. No problem with GPS. Just follow the instruction on the next turn.

OK then, about tonight’s game: another great one. Flyers win. Here’s my story on it in the Post.

And here’s what the scene was like in the Flyers dressing room after. Chris Pronger, standing above us all like Moses or something, delivering his sermon of observations on the game. He was brilliant tonight, at plus-4. He’s a Hall of Famer for sure, and a pretty amazing player when you take into account just how long he’s been at it. I mean, he’s a former Hartford Whaler.

I think the Blackhawks, though they had a nice comeback in the third, looked a bit befuddled all night. The Flyers are mucking up the middle of the ice better, and Patrick Kane and Jon Toews are the two guys having the most trouble adjusting.
I think Joel Quenneville needs to break up Kane and Toews from their line and spread the wealth more. Pronger is out against both of them every time and doing a good job. If Pronger has to choose who to check over the other, it could free up the other Hawk young star to get going.

I’ll long remember this trip to Philly. The crowds were unbelievable, I got to see my aunt, uncle and cousins, I got my haircut in a 52-year-old shop in Downingtown, PA., I had a refreshment inside an incredible lobby at the Ritz-Carlton downtown, I had a meal at the City Tavern, where the Founding Fathers ate and drank and I got some incredible views of the city from the 43rd floor of the majestic Comcast building downtown – plus got to hang out with an old Denver Post sports editor boss who now works for Versus.
How about this view:

Before I dust off another old VHS tape and provide a running dialogue, thanks to the many well-wishers over my recent, um, colonoscopy. It was certainly an interesting experience. To all of those who absolutely dread the thought of it, there are only two truly abysmal things about it: drinking the JUG of turbo-laxative solution the night and morning beforehand, which will send you RUNNING to the bathroom at least 15-20 times about an hour after swigging it, and the dreaded hospital gown that must be put on right before you get wheeled in. As Dave Barry so perfectly put it, the designer of those gowns obviously was a combination sadist/pervert. Read more…

This is something I’ll do from time to time, dusting off an old Avs game on VHS from the basement and popping it in, and offering commentary.

Call it time capsule beat writing. About a year ago, a gift of about 500 Avalanche games from the past – all on VHS – was given to me. So, when I play them here, it’s for the first time ever. Most or all of these games, I was at, watching from the press box. Never saw them on TV.

Today’s first installment is an April 3, 1996, regular-season game between the Blues and Avs, from McNichols Sports Arena.

As of this writing, I can’t remember if I was even there for this game. I’ll check in the Post’s archives later on that, but for now here’s a look back with me, as the tape plays:

We have the St. Louis feed, which back then was called “Prime Sports”. Ken Wilson does the play-by-play and Joe Micheletti is the color guy for the Blues, and Bruce Affleck (no relation to Ben or Casey) is the rinkside reporter. Read more…

You guys can rip me all day long for picking the Wild, or berate me if you don’t like the way I write or if you don’t like my hair color or think I’m a few cards short of a full deck, and that’s fine. I dish it out for a living at times, so I can certainly take it.

But let’s reiterate something, because a lot of you seem to be confused about what my job entails. First off, the oldest rule in sports writing is “No cheering in the press box.” That means, no pulling for the team you cover. Any breaking of this rule, and you can kiss your credibility goodbye forever as a journalist. Read more…

I’ll have a story posted on the Denver Post’s website any minute, but wanted to throw it out there to blog nation that the career of Peter Forsberg looks to be over.
He withdrew today from the upcoming Karjala Cup for the Swedish team, saying his ankle problems have resurfaced, and can’t skate without pain.
I’d say that’s probably going to be it for Foppa. Talking to his agent, Don Baizley, just now, it didn’t sound good.

July 18: Below is the original blog, but I’ve seen a few comments chastising me for suggesting the NY Rangers could afford Peter Forsberg as a free agent.
One reader said the Rangers only have $1 million in cap space. Wrong. They have a little more than $3 million, PLUS another $3 million in bonus money they can use to go OVER the $50.3 million salary cap. Whatever amount they go over in that $3 million pool, counts toward next year’s cap. But, in reality, the Rangers have $6 million to spend on Forsberg.
I think he’d take that.

Back from a Disney vacation, where the Wonderful World totally shocked and awed me. What is the power bill for that place anyway? Unbelievable, simply amazing place, and my 3-year-old boy had quite the time, especially on the “Soaring Over California” ride, which I have trouble finding words to explain.
Anyway, it’s 98 degrees here today and there is a spot on my lawn that looks like the uniforms of the 1973 San Diego Padres. So, what better time to make some hockey predictions? Read more…

It’s official – Ryan Smyth is an Av. I’ve filed a story with the Denver Post website as well.
Got a long night of writing ahead of me. But Smyth and Hannan might not make the Avs the best team in the league, but they definitely have the league’s two best mullets now.

DETROIT – Greetings blog fans. If you are actually reading this tonight, please, GET A LIFE.
No, glad you’re here. But, really, get a life.
I sit inside Joe Louis Arena here as I write, where the temperature inside the building is approximately 114 degrees. Or, it just seems like it. A very warm day here in Detroit, and this building ain’t exactly at the top of heap when it comes to in-house amenities such as, oh, air conditioning. Read more…

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.